As tourists in their caravans head inland and into northern Australia after the heat of summer, a lack of amenities at rest areas prompts criticism.

The problem equally riles some who head south.

"As soon as you cross the border from the Northern Territory into South Australia the availability of toilets doesn't just diminish, it vanishes," said Michael, a Northern Territory traveller.

"As a result, every rest area on the Stuart Highway is littered with toilet paper and other debris, which is not nice.

"Let's face it, when people have got to go, they have to go."

South Australia's director of planning, transport and infrastructure Paul Gelston rejected suggestions there were too few toilets at rest areas.

He said since 2007 in SA there had been 39 new toilets and 37 toilet upgrades for rest areas on major arterial roads, including Dukes Highway, Port Augusta Road, Port Wakefield Road, the Stuart Highway and the South Eastern Freeway.

But he conceded the cost of building and maintaining facilities, the cost of water and fixing vandalism were challenges.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-26/outback-hardly-flush-with-dunnies/4652636

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Meanwhile on Sydney's north shore...

A middle-aged couple from Sydney's northern beaches have been sentenced to a least two and a half years' jail for tax evasion, after participating in a fraudulent scheme to avoid paying tax on income of $1.173 million.

Jane Sakovits, 62, broke down in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday as she and her husband, Ron, 64, were taken away from their two children by corrective services officers.This year the small business owners were found guilty of taking part in a fraudulent tax evasion scheme initiated by their accountant, the former president of the National Institute of Accountants, Lynette Liles, who is serving a five-year jail sentence.

The couple in effect laundered money overseas by falsely claiming they were paying for marketing services from a company in Vanuatu called International Prestige Promotions Incorporated, of which they were the "beneficial owners".

In fact no work was done but International Prestige Promotions gave the couple bogus invoices which they used as a tax deduction.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-couple-jailed-for-12-million-tax-fraud-20130426-2iix0.html#ixzz2RXWAb35K

James Packer is pushing for his proposed $1 billion hotel and casino at Barangaroo to contain multimillion-dollar apartments at its highest levels to offer soaring views over Sydney harbour and the CBD and bolster the financial viability of the project.

May 30, 2013
In Australia, the French consul is ashamed of some of the young French backapckers... 
At the entrance of the supermarket Pyrmont, an inner-city Sydney, Damien, 33, monitors the contents of the bags of customers who flock to the checkouts. A security officer for four years, Damien does not hesitate to specially monitor those who have a strong French accent. This is part of his "safety instructions" that have been updated this year at a special training. For a few years, the French nationals living in Australia have built a strong unenviable reputation, giving rise to the term "French shopping" to refer to shoplifting. A behaviour that is hardly to the taste of the Consul General of France in Sydney, Eric Berti, who has written an open letter to the French people in Australia.
"Do not hesitate to tell young French around you of the proper behaviour that is expected of them, in a country where honesty and respect for the values ​​and the authorities are of paramount importance" argues Eric Berti. This strong note from the consul is all the more necessary as the robbery is far from the only complaint against the French "backpackers" — the young people who come to Australia with a working holiday visa which allows them to stay at least one year in the country and work.
"Provocative noisy behaviour, alcoholism, lack of respect for the police and the authorities" are some of the other offences pointed out by the consul to his young countrymen. "Even if offences are minor, this unacceptable behaviour can affect the entire French community in Australia, and heavily penalise other young French people, holding working holiday visas, in search for a job" laments Eric Berti.
http://sydney.blog.lemonde.fr/2013/05/30/en-australie-le-consul-francais-a-honte-de-ses-touristes/

For only the second time since before its hosting of the Olympics in 2000, Sydney has failed to make the top 10 cities list in the prestigious Travel + Leisure US World’s Best Awards, with the city rating poorly among the magazine’s readers for value-for-money.

The last time Australia’s biggest city and tourism gateway failed to make the top 10 was in 2009, when it ranked 11. In this year's World's Best Awards, announced in New York this week, Sydney came in as the world’s number 12 ranked best city. 

The New York-based Nancy Novogrod, editor-in-chief of the parent US edition of Travel + Leisure, one of the world’s highest-circulating and influential travel magazines, said that while Sydney "fares well for its sights and its people in the World’s Best Awards survey this year, the value category, which is always very competitive, is one area where the city fell short".

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/too-expensive-sydney-slips-from-top-10-tourism-list-20130704-2pdh4.html#ixzz2Y3tJVK7w

See image at top... I know Sydney can appear expensive, but I know people who do it on a budget and have a great time... And I know many people who, like me, would not live anywhere else... Nothing's perfect...

Extending from Woolloomooloo to Watsons Bay and south to Clovelly, Wentworth [in Sydney] is the most densely populated electorate in the country.

Added to the crowded streets of commuters are the thousands of people who flock like moths to the lights of Kings Cross and the siren of the Bondi surf.

Alfresco diners people the streets of Darlinghurst, whether they choose five star restaurants or a souvlaki on park benches.

The surfers of the eastern beaches navigate their way to the water through parkland filled with yoga and fitness enthusiasts.

Oxford Street, Paddington was once the epicentre of designer labels but now the 'On Sale' signs are being replaced by 'For Lease' billboards.

Wentworth, despite the eclectic variety of people who make Woolloomooloo, Darlinghurst, and Kings Cross such vibrant suburbs, is decidedly blue ribbon.

The electorate, one of the original federation divisions, claims the title of the highest per-capita income in Australia and has never been held by Labor.

Sitting member Malcolm Turnbull held the seat by 11.01% at the last election, with a strong showing by the Greens candidate, Matthew Robertson.

With the electorate the home of the Sydney Mardi Gras it was described during the last election as being blue, pink and green ribbon.

In a strange case of life imitating art Mr Turnbull will face actor Di Smith for the ALP in the forthcoming election. Ms Smith's character in the Australian television production 'A Country Practice' left the show to pursue life in politics.

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2013/07/03/3795255.htm

Melbourne has been named the world's most liveable city for the fourth year in a row, by the Economist Intelligence Unit's liveability survey of 140 cities.

The survey rated cities out of 100 in the areas of healthcare, education, stability, culture and environment and infrastructure.

Melbourne received an overall score of 97.5 out of 100, scoring a perfect rating for healthcare, education and infrastructure.

Adelaide, Sydney and Perth also made it to the top 10 of the list, with ratings of 96.6, 96.1 and 95.9 respectively.

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-19/melbourne-worlds-most-liveable-city-for-the-fourth-year-running/5681014

See also: http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/26562

See article at top...

Meanwhile, the weather in Sydney is presently CRAP... It rains, it's windy... it's cold... and unaware people and an idiot Newman would say"the earth is cooling"...

What is happening is actually "GLOBAL WARMING plus". If you study the geostrophic and cyclostrophic winds, you would soon realise that the "normal" Australian winter high pressure system has shifted south and is stuck still by a non-moving low system offshore. This low is standing still because, according to my views, El Nino is pushing warm seas towards Australia. As well, the disturbance has possibly merged and slowed the two southern hemisphere jet streams in tropical areas above Australia, splitting once more above the pacific ocean. Further more, a new low, a front and another high pressure systems are piling up west of Adelaide. All the humidity and the "shapeless" fuzzy low clouds are, in my book, typical of global warming while Antarctica is melting.

Thus, the high and the low being bunched up along the New South Wales coast, despite very little "differential of pressure" (about 20 millibars or less), the Antarctic cold wind is being channel between the two at higher speed due to the very narrow gradients.